Merit tending to happiness

Merit tending to happiness (Tib. བསོད་ནམས་ཆ་མཐུན་, sönam chatün; Wyl.bsod nams cha mthun) means virtuous actions performed in conjunction with a belief in the real existence of the self, both of persons and phenomena. Such actions are productive of happiness in samsara but do not lead beyond it. They are therefore to be contrasted with "virtuous actions tending to liberation", which produce liberation from samsara.[1]